Frank’s eyes opened to a mess of black stringy hair in his face. Someone’s breath blew against his face, like his own private breeze. Arms circled his small body, a fortress against what lay outside them. Warmth soaked into him, twirling around his every vein. He felt feelings that had been missing in the deep crevices of his mind for a long time now. It was almost like he was back to the old routine he had grown accustomed to before he met you-know-who. He’d wake up in the bed of someone new each day. He slowly lifted Gerard’s arm off himself and stared for a few seconds, with a smile. He recalled that all those “someone”s had been ano-bulimic girls who frankly scared him. They were nothing like the beautiful God who lay in front of him, drooling holy saliva onto the white pillow case. With quiet movements, he craned his neck forward. His lips gently touched Gerard’s cheek, only to move away in a millisecond.

Still silent, Frank rolled off the bed. He caught a glimpse of the digital clock on the nightstand, which read 7:00 AM. On tiptoes, he crept from Gerard’s room to his. The bathroom door shut behind him as he let go of the golden knob. His reflection gazed at him with two weary, olive-oil eyes. Although he had been feeling good and safe only a few minutes earlier, his heart now sank. He pulled himself up off the floor and onto the counter. His knees edged him closer to the mirror, until he was kissing distance away. He grimaced at the image that met his eyes. He was hideous. No wonder Wilona cheated on him. Thinking her name struck something hard, like a guitar chord in his mind; A maj. for majorly angry.

Rage boiled in the cauldron of his stomach. He could feel it rise up to fill the rest of him. It wasn’t fury towards Wilona, like it should have been. All his anger was loaded in a gun pointing to himself. He formed a tight fist with his right hand. He wanted to punch the mirror so that it would shatter into sharp pieces, just like his heart. Red was he wanted to see, the red of blood. He wished for glass shards to slice through his skin until he felt nothing. He never wanted to see his own face ever again. The feelings were too strong to just ignore. His fingers clasped onto the side of the counter as his eyes darted about the room. The sight of his shaving razor catching his eye shocked him. He took the blade in his hands and held it a few inches up from his wrist. Being careful not to actually touch any skin, he gestured the blade backwards, trying to imagine what it would feel like. It was a really bad solution. It would only make everything hurt more. But was that even possible? No...probably not... Cutting still wouldn’t help. Unless all his blood flowed out and he died. Then how would Gerard feel? The last argument cleared up his thoughts. For Gerard, his best friend, he’d keep going, even if he felt like he needed to die. He jumped off the counter.

After taking a piss, he returned to Gerard’s room. The boy was still sprawled out on the bed, snoring softly. Frank sneaked over to the side of the bed and knelt down. He brought his hand up and touched Gerard’s hair. Apprehension squeezed its way into Frank’s chest. His palm drew away as he stood up. He wished he knew why he was so scared all of a sudden. Without moving his gaze from Gerard until the last possible second, he left the room. As he lay on the couch twisting and turning, different emotions collided into each other. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling. The happiness had definitely recoiled into the far depths. Fear was still present, in large quantities. It slammed into his anger, creating a plummeting sensation. Just to add more weight to his sinking ship, loneliness took over him too. He wrapped his arms around himself. He wanted to cry, but he just couldn’t. His eyes were dry. His hands were cold. He felt empty.

Then, the doorbell rang.

Frank sat up and strolled to the door, wondering who could be here this early. His hand twisted on the knob and pulled the door open. His eyes widened and the urge to burst into tears formed a huge lump in his throat. He moved aside to let Wilona into the apartment.

She flashed her pearly white teeth in his direction and took a seat on the couch. She, of course, was unaware of the fact that Frank knew what she had been up to. She didn’t believe Gerard to have the guts to tell him. With a flirtatious gesture, she forced Frank to come join her.

He obeyed wordlessly. It was mere willpower that prevented him from breaking down on the spot. His breath hitched when Wilona’s head moved closer to him. It was shocking how much he wanted her to kiss him at that moment. Just the fact that she would even move close to him made him happy. Who cared if she was cheating on him? He held his hands on her hips as their lips met. An amazing sensation shot through his body. It was like when Gerard touched him yesterday. No...it was better. He pushed his tongue through the barrier that was her mouth.

Wilona moaned with surprise. She knew that something was wrong. Frank had never been this forward in any of his actions before. He was never this good of a kisser. It was so un-Frank-like. It was not that she minded, she’d take good kisses from anyone. However, even she, the super-human, had internal radars. Right now, her something-is- really-really-weird radar was going wild. After a few moments consideration, she ushered it because this new Frank seemed almost... hot. Nothing matching the amazing skill of Vince Hartmann, but still very good. Her arms wrapped around Frank, pulling him closer.

~*~

Gerard was awoken by sunlight from the most pleasant night of his life. He recalled holding onto Frank tightly until the weeping boy’s breathing grew as steady as his heartbeat. It was so...nice. At one point of time, he was sure he had felt Frank kiss his cheek with soft angelic lips. His insides filled with glee, knowing that Frank liked him back. At least a little bit. He felt around the bed, to find Frank. Shockingly, he felt nobody there. His currently shut eyes flickered open to scan the room. He sat up, sensing a problem. Anxiety took control. Where the fuck was Frank? What if someone kidnapped in the middle of the night? What if he was alone in some dark dusty closet, praying for a savior? Gerard gasped. What if he had tried to kill himself? In a state of panic, he threw the covers off himself. Grabbing a shirt from the dresser, he rushed into the living room.

The sight he saw made him want to scream and cry at the same time. That stupid bitch Wilona sat on the sofa, making out with Frank. His Frank. What hurt him the most, though, was how Frank made no attempt to push her away. It was as if he didn’t even care about what Gerard had told him the previous night. He wasn’t upset anymore. He was just willing to go back into Wilona’s arms, like Gerard didn’t even matter. The cartoonist bit down on his lip, unsure of what to do. Half of him knew that the best solution was to just throw the bitch out, but if she was who Frank really wanted...

Thankfully, Frank picked this moment to pull away and look up. He met Gerard’s melting eyes and broke away from them immediately. Wilona sat before him, wearing a proud smile. She seemed so honest and innocent. Her eyes were so easy to be lost to. They were like lush green forests with too many trees to make a path around. Even though he stared at Wilona, he knew Gerard was piercing holes with his hurting hazel gaze.

“Wil...could you leave?” Frank mumbled quietly.

She did not bother correcting the nickname. Her head spun around to Gerard, gasping, “Frankie, don’t believe a word he tells you. He’s a liar!”

Frank stared at the red fabric that surrounded the couch cushions, “Just...leave...I have to talk to Gerard. I’ll call you.”

“Baby,” Wilona whispered with her best sugar coated voice, “I’ll leave. But I need you to tell me that you don’t believe anything Gerard said,” she took his face in her hands and kissed his cheek softly.

“I don’t believe anything he said,” he lied without a moment’s hesitation.

With a triumphant smirk to an astonished Way, she made her way out of the apartment.

The room was left awkward with silence. A loud sob broke the hush. Gerard leaned back against the wall and slid down. Apparently, last night had only been some sort of waking dream-turned-nightmare. He hugged his knees to his chest. This seemed to be the standard Gerard position recently.

Frank wanted to stand up and go comfort Gerard, repay him for everything, somehow. Yet, his butt remained glued down, as did his feet. The inevitable hurt both of them. He still loved Wilona.